Hot to Handle
by FishySomethingIs
Summary: A young prince goes dungeon crawling to make a name for himself. What lurks in the depths?


Everything was going just fine until that blasted Iron Knuckle got in his way.

Or at least, he _thought _that's what it was called. Legends spoke of the dreaded things, brute monsters that lurked deep in the desert dungeons. Towering over their victims in plated armor from top to bottom. Crushing them with gigantic weapons or even their fists, sometimes in one blow if it hit the skull. Never to be seen or heard from again.

Whatever. This thing would be no match for the Great Gerudo Prince, anywa—

CRASH!

"Aaaugh!" Ganondorf hollered and jumped away from what used to be the pillar he hid behind seconds ago. The flying spiked ball replied with a relentless FWOOSH! as it circled around its encroaching owner. Ganondorf didn't dare to look back. The ground shook through his shoes as he scurried out of the room and down the corridor until he couldn't feel the vibrations anymore, save for his own heart jumping out of his chest.

"Stupid brute!" he spat under his breath. A ball and chain?! The young Gerudo prince would have cursed too, if he wasn't already in enough trouble. Sneaking out of the palace from the rooftop, trekking on foot at night through the desert and all that. Barraria would kill him if she found out. Oh, but that's right - she _can't. _He was a voe! They needed him. That was simply a fact, like it or not.

Besides, he needed to find that treasure first...

Ganondorf pored over an old map from his pocket, carefully folded it by its crease lines, and went on his way. Legends told of an ancient weapon left behind somewhere in these cursed ruins. He remembered the stories since he was little. Arrows embedded with the ancient technology to control time and even space when drawn... It was said the Sheikah gifted them to the Seven Heroines long ago to congratulate their establishment of Gerudo order. How in the world a prized weapon like that ended up in this creepy gem mine was beyond him. Better claim it now before someone else does.

Like the other _vehvis_ who betted on him to do this...

Well, okay. Maybe he bribed them _before_ they betted with each other. He had to do something to keep the brats quiet. A volt fruit and a quarter carat gem from Ganondorf's personal treasury to each of them did the trick. Hey, it was chump change. The grown-ups wouldn't notice.

Blistering heat danced in the cavern air. Ganondorf wiped the sweat off his brow as he turned around the corner. This temperature sure got annoying fast. And his shoes were hot.

Hold up. Hot?

Red coals radiated in the ground beneath his feet.

"AAH! What in the?!" The young prince scrambled over the searing rocks to a safer spot. Up ahead was much worse - a bubbling pool of flame blocked the path ahead. "That's not on the map!" he cried in dismay, then face-palmed. Of course it wouldn't be. This whole place was geologically unstable. That's why it's abando—

SKREE! Four keese engulfed in fire swooped out of nowhere, forcing Ganondorf to dance between the flames above and below. This bet was a bad idea. The prince drew his Gerudo claymore and whirled it in the air. "Go away!"

POOF! Two keese disappeared in smoke at the blade. Another caught the tip of his clothes on fire, though a few desperate swats smoldered it to nothing. Down he raced into another path - and more appeared! This time they were all in front of him, so his claymore made short work of the nasty things. Their screeches echoed as they disintegrated in their own flames.

The Gerudo boy leaned into his blade that he planted into the cooler rock and sighed. All seemed to be quiet, for once. It was a large cavern now, with a great lava lake, cliffs, and winding pathways that snaked to mining tunnels in different directions. But where was the treasure? Ganondorf sheathed his claymore and squinted at the musty map in the red glowing backlight, but couldn't figure out north from south. Such a useless old thing. Now he was as lost as a blind sand seal in a desert storm, _and_ empty-handed. How aggravating.

Perhaps it was best to retrace his steps and cut bait. But to what? More blasted beasts? And what was he supposed to say to the other _vehvis_? That he turned cucco and ran? No way! Not an option. The prized weapon had to be here. The legend said so. He will move forward and find it.

That's what a king would do...

But where should he go?

Maybe one of those tunnels?

What's that sizzling noise?

He barely dodged the bright ball of flame that grazed his arm as it whirled by.

The prince fought back tears as he clutched his arm. It stung like the dickens, even for a brush. The attack belonged to an elusive wizard-like figure behind him, who disappeared as soon it was spotted. But Ganondorf didn't have time to think, or even cry, because another fireball was coming. He avoided it by another close call and threw his hand out in sheer instinct.

He gasped when powerful plasma energy shot from it.

The electrifying energy collided into the incoming fireball, continued its course, and overtook the sorcerer in a dazzling display. Ganondorf stared at his hand and trembled. Did that just...come out of him?! His eyes grew wide.

He didn't remember anything like _that_ in his combat training...

But the fight wasn't over yet.

Boom...boom...BOOM! The ground vibrated and rumbled from a tunnel behind him. It was the Iron Knuckle brute with his ridiculous ball and chain again. Looks like it decided to have an encore showdown. But how to attack it? Penetrating its thick armor was next to impossible, if you could get past the ball and chain first. Ganondorf didn't like the odds. He wanted to run. Maybe he could make a break for it into that tunnel, since the beast was out here. Beads of sweat ran down the side of his face and clammed up his magic-laced hands.

Wait a minute—magic!

Would it work?...

The young prince closed his eyes and concentrated. The plasma energy re-emerged, this time in a ball. What a thrilling discovery that he could sense electricity course through his entire body and not just his hands! He whirled the energy ball at the Iron Knuckle and hoped for the best.

The attack landed and completely paralyzed the monster from top to bottom.

"Hahaha yes!" Ganondorf shouted with a jig. He tried it again, and again, until the beast was overwhelmed and finally gave up in a swirl of smoke. It left behind spoils, to the prince's delight. Rupees and gemstones were a nice surprise. Ganondorf tried to take the ball and chain, but it was simply too heavy. Oh well. Good riddance to the blasted thing, anyway.

Speaking of spoils, it seemed that something glowed out of the corner of Ganondorf's eye. The glow came from a high cliff along the lava lake's banks up ahead. What could it be? He decided to investigate.

What he found was a chest perched at the cliff's top. That's funny. He didn't remember seeing a chest before... It was unlocked, so he opened it to see what was inside.

A quiver of elegant arrows with tips glowing an ethereal blue looked back at him.

Ganondorf snapped the chest shut and blinked. The legendary weapon! There it was, right in front of him. Could it be that the monsters were a test?

The prince took the quiver out of the chest and stared at it in his hands. Hearing the stories was one thing. Holding and seeing it before his eyes was another. It made him think.

What would he do with such an awesome weapon?

The ground shook before he could answer.

"What now?" Ganondorf whirled his head and looked at the tunnels, but no monsters were to be seen. He realized it was an earthquake when the pillars trembled and stalagmites fell in the cave. The lava lake below hissed and bubbled in agitation. He got the message: time to go! Ganondorf strapped the quiver on his back and made a run for it—

The cliff's tip crumbled apart beneath his feet.

And down he went. How small the prince was compared to the seething inferno of doom!

It felt like forever, and then—

Something huge grabbed his clothes and yanked him up, back to safety.

It was Barraria. "I got you, Ganny!" With the help of her claw prosthetic, the boy prince scrambled over the sharp rocks and into her arms, trembling. "_Sa'oten_!" She cried, "I thought we lost you for good...what in the DEPTHS did you think you were doi!?—"

The sight of the glowing arrows on Ganondorf's back stopped Barraria in her tracks. "The legendary arrows!" she gasped as she wiped away her tears. "B-but how?..."

The prince might have shown off the prized weapon to her had it not been for the traumatizing ordeals of fire, magic and monsters all at once in a day. Instead, he looked up at her from her embrace and smiled sheepishly.

"Well, color me surprised. I'm just glad you're safe, kiddo." Barraria smiled and shook her head before she muttered, "Little _voe_... I may never understand them."

The grumbling cave seemed to agree with her reply.

"We need to get out of here...before something else happens!" said Barraria.

And with that, the Gerudo guardian led the prince out of the cavern by her good hand. It was easy for them to find the way out of the mines because Barraria had left shiny metal gears every so often to mark the path. Ganondorf was stone silent.

"Those arrows...who would have thought?" Barraria wondered aloud. It was hard for her to show admiration, though, when she had to put on a parental front. "Well...you may be chosen, but you're still in big trouble, Mr. Ganondorf Dragmire! As soon as we return home, your royal heinie is going to be grounded for eight weeks! Do you understand me?"

"Yes, Barraria..." the prince mumbled. He couldn't explain it, but somehow he wasn't bothered by the discipline this time.

Barraria sighed. "Good. Now think about what you've done. When that's over with...I might give you some archery lessons — but ONLY if you behave, for once!" she chastised when the young prince perked his face at the word 'archery.' "And while I'm on the subject..."

Her prosthetic claw pulled out a little leather bag with gems - and a volt fruit - that looked awful familiar.

"What is this?"

Ganondorf jumped like a cat on a hot tin roof. "I can explain!"

Barraria just rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you can."

Hi, folks! What a blast this was to write – a precious gem. 3 If you haven't figured it out by now, Hot to Handle is a prequel to Straight and True! Rest assured, I am still writing the sequel. The "Straight and True" saga (as I am calling it for now haha,) is looking much bigger now than I previously thought. Depending on how it goes, I may do a series of short stories, or something more like a novel. We'll see!

Thanks for reading! =)

Ciao,

~ Fishy

02/08/2020


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